Bump in the Night
by SkyChasingDreamer
Summary: A young girl is dead and Gintoki has been hired to hunt down the prime suspect. He'd just expected there to be a lot less fur... and teeth. HijiGinHiji. Canon-verse.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Bump in the Night

**Pairing**: HijiGinHiji

**Rating**: T to NC17

**Disclaimer**: No

**Bump in the Night**

Gintoki was on the run.

It wasn't like he was running from an unpaid bill or running to get out of paying rent, he was actually _running_. He was _working_ and under so much exertion that he was sweating and bleeding and the worst of it was that he didn't even know what he was up against. His cut was on his leg, he'd scraped it pretty good trying to hunt this thing, whatever it was, down. He'd only caught glimpses so far, dark shadows, things like that. He'd see movement out of the corner of his eye, but by the time he turned, there was nothing there.

He was on a job, one that he'd thought would be simple. For the last few months there had been reports of an Amanto causing trouble from time to time, breaking things, wounding and scaring people, relatively harmless, mostly. It wasn't until someone turned up dead that Gintoki got called in to deal with the problem, but the real problem was that he couldn't figure out exactly what he was after. The person on the phone had been vague in terms of details and Gintoki hadn't thought much of it at the time. He'd figured it was another one of Prince Baka's escaped pets, but so far he had heard no yodeling to announce the Prince's arrival and whatever was in this building with him wasn't any kind of goddamn pet.

The building he was in was abandoned and mostly used for storage – go figure that the lights were out except for one dingy little emergency light in the center of the room. There were boxes and crates everywhere and Gintoki had spent the better part of an hour running through the place. It was a maze and whatever was in there with him knew its way around. Gintoki had tracked it all night and it was either very bad luck or some kind of terrible plot that he'd ended up in a place where he couldn't see well and wasn't familiar with.

The dark blob Gintoki was getting sick of seeing flashed by on his right and he went after it. It was so _annoying_ that he wasn't under attack, he was just running in circles. He'd say the thing was frightened, except he didn't get that feeling. He had an odd feeling about this, his instincts were telling him he needed to be careful, but not that he was in immediate danger. The Amanto hadn't tried to escape the building and though it could easily brake a window and bolt, it didn't. If anything, Gintoki was more pissed off at having to work so hard than the situation itself, no one liked running in circles all night.

Rounding a set of crates for probably the hundredth time, he saw the blur, heard a familiar growl, and the figure was gone again. Gintoki wanted to smash his face into one of the crates and yell. He could have killed the thing already, he'd had plenty of chances, but he didn't want to strike a killing blow until he knew for certain that this was the thing that had been causing so much trouble. He didn't want to uselessly kill it, what if he was wrong?

Across the warehouse, he heard a crash and ran to it, ready just in case the Amanto finally jumped at him. He was so used to the Amanto being ahead of him and out of his reach that it was a genuine surprise when he spun around the edge and bowled the thing right over. Like, he _slammed_ into it and the force was enough to send them both to the ground.

Gintoki could not have expected this.

There was no way he could have seen this coming.

He watched, unblinking, as this massive form of fur and teeth, a wolf if Gintoki ever saw one, shuddered and contorted. He'd seen some strange things in his lifetime, he'd even had a screwdriver for a dick, but this was... different, even for him. Fur fell away, paws turned into hands, bones snapped and cracked, and eventually, a human formed.

Gintoki could not have expected this, either.

"_You_?"

Hijikata was panting so hard he could barely speak and he wasn't moving, so Gintoki did the first thing that came to him and took off his yukata. He carefully draped it over Hijikata's body to cover him up, all while staying low to the ground, his hands feeling numb. He kept his movements slow so as not to startle him, he had no idea what was going on, but he felt it prudent to not let his guard down. But then it occurred to him that Hijikata could probably sense how high strung he was, how taut and ready to strike, and he didn't see how his being uneasy would help this situation. Taking a deep breath, he sat back on his ass and kept his bokken in his sights, but out of his reach.

"Surprise," Hijikata muttered, wincing as he sat up and tied the yukata around himself.

"Is this... some kind of joke?"

"I wish."

Gintoki could feel himself starting to get a headache as he wiped some sweat off his brow. "Oi. Oi, oi, oi! What the hell is goin' on, Mayora?"

"It's," Hijikata ran a hand through his hair, he looked exhausted, "a long story."

"Wait... _wait_, are you the one that has been causing all the disturbances?"

"Yes and no, it's why I c-called you."

"But that wasn't your voice on the phone."

Hijikata gave him a baleful look. "I used somethin' to alter it."

"Why?"

"'Cause," his face went red and Gintoki eyed him as he moved closer, "hirin' you was the only thing I could think to do! I've done a lot of things, Yorozuya, but I did _not_ kill that girl!"

Gintoki studied him – he was still moving closer, why was he still moving closer? – and he didn't need to think about it long, he'd believed Hijikata right when he said the words. Hijikata was many, many things, but a killer of young girls? Never. Even if he lost control and did it on accident, there would be regret and a deep set pain that Hijikata wouldn't be able to hide if he tried.

Hijikata kept coming closer and closer, little by little, and Gintoki didn't move away. He didn't feel threatened, Hijikata wasn't in an offensive stance and was actually now seated between Gintoki's legs. That was odd. This whole thing was odd.

"You're a werewolf," Gintoki blurted and almost felt bad when Hijikata flinched like he'd been struck.

"Y-yeah. Like I said, long story."

"Right... okay... but is there something else I should know?"

Hijikata's pupils got slightly bigger and he tilted his head to the right just a little. "What're you talkin' about?"

Gintoki poked his chest to gently push him back, he didn't know why Hijikata kept moving so close to him. "Maybe it's nothing... never mind. So, okay, I gotta ask – how in the hell did you get, ah... bitten?"

"Can we not do this now?" Hijikata snapped and Gintoki could have sworn those canines were longer than normal. "I hired you, so get me outta here and I'll tell you more once you get me somethin' to eat!"

"Where the hell am I supposed to take you?"

"Someplace safe," Hijikata shoulders sagged slightly, "I can't go back to the barracks yet."

"W –"

"Don't ask."

"You don't even know what I was gonna say!" Gintoki chastised and then sighed. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah."

Gintoki nodded and stood, the cut on his leg stinging a bit and he hesitated before picking up his bokken. He couldn't leave it behind, but he also didn't feel he needed it against Hijikata and having it on him could prove to be a trigger of some sort. Hijikata certainly wouldn't be at ease if he thought Gintoki would strike him down at any given moment.

"Oi," when Hijikata looked over after getting up, Gintoki tossed him the bokken, "carry this for me."

Hijikata's relief was palpable, but it warred with a side of him that wanted to give the bokken back. Gintoki understood the inclination, that want to give someone the power to end him if they needed to, but Gintoki would be having none of that. Hijikata meant too much to too many people, he wouldn't be taken down just because of a... furry little problem. He'd definitely be asking more later, but first thing was first, he needed to get them both some level of security. He also needed to figure out what the hell had even happened to his night because the whole thing just seemed like one big fucking mess.

They walked side by side toward the door and it was _weird_ that Hijikata was walking so their arms were brushing, but Gintoki didn't comment. He just wanted to get back to his apartment since that was where he'd decided to take Hijikata and figure things out from there. He wished the lighting hadn't been so dim and that he could have gotten a better look before Hijikata had changed back into himself. Maybe it was fucked up, but Gintoki wanted to have a better look at him, it wasn't everyday someone he knew was suddenly a werewolf.

Once they were outside and on their way, Gintoki said, "You know there's going to be a lot of dog jokes, right?"

Hijikata punched him.

It was good that some things, at least, hadn't changed.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

**Also Known as: Gintoki and the Big Hairy Problem**

Gintoki was on his way back to his apartment with a couple bags swinging from each arm. It was so unlike himself to be deep in thought, but he was confused and also getting a lot of looks for still being dirty, bruised, and a little bloody. He'd gotten Hijikata back to his apartment, double checked that Kagura was still gone, and then he'd been sent out to get food since the apartment was empty of nearly everything. Hijikata had scrawled out a short list for him and then kicked him out of his _own_ apartment to run errands.

He couldn't really wrap his mind around Hijikata being a werewolf even though he'd seen the change with his own eyes – kind of. He hadn't gotten a good look, of course, but he'd seen enough to know that Hijikata's body hadn't been switched with a dog or something. As he walked, he tried to think back to when he'd last seen Hijikata. He didn't really remember, but he did recall catching glances of him from time to time.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the stranger it became. He and Hijikata usually didn't see each other very often and when they did, they bickered. Bickering and fighting was what they_ did _and once they were done with that, they'd go about their way and things were fine, things were _normal_. Recently though, now that it had been brought to his attention, he really hadn't seen as much of Hijikata as usual... but he also _had_. Like, he remembered seeing Hijikata from the corner of his eye or catching a glance of him, but they hadn't had their usual bickering for a long time. He'd never thought of it as weird, they had their own lives, he'd just figured Hijikata was busy, their happenstance of running into each other was off.

His memory wasn't the greatest, especially when he wasn't paying attention, but he did recall seeing Hijikata. He'd seen Hijikata _often_, but they'd never faced each other and did their bickering thing. Hijikata was always moving and was always turning a corner or farther down the road and Gintoki hadn't thought anything of it. It was normal for Hijikata to be working all the time, there was nothing weird about that and it was no reason for Gintoki to think there was anything out of the ordinary.

To think that Hijikata had been a werewolf even part of that time was obviously not something that had crossed Gintoki's mind. Why had Hijikata called him? And why couldn't he go back to the barracks yet? He had a lot of questions, so he was glad that he was on his way back to his apartment where Hijikata was waiting for him. He hadn't said anything to Otose, mainly because it was way too early to be bothering her – speaking of which, he was pissed off he had to walk so far to find someplace that was open – but he wanted to have a chat with her when he got the chance.

Gintoki got back to his apartment and he didn't even have to look for Hijikata, he found him right when he walked into the kitchen. Every pantry and cabinet was open, the fridge was ajar and barren, and Hijikata was sitting on the floor eating stuff out of a can with a plastic fork.

"That's not dog food, is it?"

Hijikata threw one of the empty cans at him, which he dodged, and he went over to hand Hijikata one of the bags so he could inspect the contents. The thing had barely left Gintoki's hand before Hijikata was tearing into it and gobbling up one of the bottles of mayonnaise.

"You could've at least showered," Gintoki mumbled, eying the dirt and dried blood on Hijikata's skin. "And you're lucky I even had money to get you anything."

"I'll pay you back," Hijikata somehow said around all the food stuffed in his mouth.

Looking around, Gintoki didn't find anything out of place, but he still felt the need to ask, "You didn't pee on anything, did you?"

Hijikata actually stopped eating long enough to inquire, "What d'ya mean?"

"Don't look at me like that! Sadaharu pees on stuff sometimes to, you know, mark his territory or whatever. Just wanna make sure I'm not gonna be finding any surprise puddles around the apartment!"

An empty mayonnaise bottle was thrown at Gintoki's head and he hit it away, smirking at the look on Hijikata's face. Hijikata kept eating and after Gintoki set the rest of the bags down near him, he was shredding his way into each one, spilling the contents all over the floor around him. Gintoki sat on his ass with his back hunched and he rubbed his chin with a hand as he stared Hijikata down. It wasn't like Hijikata was paying attention though, he was too busy taking large bites out of whatever he could get his hands on. All bags of food were basically demolished before Hijikata took notice and sat up on his knees in a more formal position with his hands on his thighs.

"So," Gintoki began, "werewolf?"

"Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Few days over two months."

Gintoki scratched at the back of his neck. "That long? Does anyone else know?"

"Kondo-san and a few of the guys at the barracks."

"Okita-kun?"

Hijikata scowled. "T'ch, yeah, he found out on accident."

"Why can't you go there yet?"

"Needed to talk to you first."

"Why? No, better question, why did you go through all the trouble to alter your voice when you called? Why not just hire me upfront?"

Hijikata's cheeks turned red and he glared down at his hands. "Imagine what you would've done if I'd called you and said, oi, natural perm, I'm a werewolf now, so get your ass over here."

"I... wouldn't have taken you seriously."

"Of course not! You'd have laughed and told me to cut the shit, then hung up on me! Showin' you was the best way I could think of to get you to pay attention!"

"Alright, alright, don't raise your voice at this hour, you'll wake up the shrew. You've got my attention now, but I've gotta ask – why me?"

"You're... t-the best ah, person for this job."

Gintoki stared at him and knew in his gut that Hijikata was leaving something out, but he didn't press. There were several reasons he didn't push Hijikata to tell him the whole truth, the main one being that Hijikata was red up to his ears and refused to look at him. He really was filthy, too, and there were bags under his eyes that added a couple years to his age.

"You're all cut up and bruised."

Hijikata sighed. "So're you."

"Yeah, from chasin' your furry ass!" It was a tease and it did what it was supposed to in getting Hijikata to lighten up a bit. "You need anything or are they all shallow?"

"M'fine, I heal quick." Hijikata shifted and his shoulders sagged slightly. "D'you believe I didn't kill that girl?"

"I thought about that while I was getting you food."

"And?"

Gintoki rubbed at his neck again and hunched over a little more. "No. I believe you _could_, I mean, I spent all goddamn night going after you. You could do some real damage if you lost control of yourself and I don't even know how much control over yourself you even have when you're all wolf-like, but... my gut tells me you're telling the truth."

Hijikata's whole body sagged and he closed his eyes as he let out a breath. He didn't respond except for a quick nod and that last action seemed to take whatever energy he had left right out of him.

"So, what's supposed to happen now?"

"I need to go back to the barracks later today and you're gonna take me," Hijikata replied, visibly pulling himself together.

Gintoki squinted. "I am?"

"I hired ya, didn't I?"

"You did... how long am I hired for?"

"Until whenever I decide."

"What about my kids?"

"What about'em?"

"Are they allowed to be in on this? Kagura kinda lives with me or did you forget?"

Hijikata growled.

Like, Hijikata would growl sometimes when they bickered, but he never actually _growled_ like he was currently doing. And he was moving, he was doing the same thing he'd done earlier.

"I don't know! We'll figure it out later!"

"You're... right up in my face again. Why're you right up in my face again?"

Hijikata didn't even look like he was breathing anymore and he backed off, however small the distance. "Sorry, m'really tired."

"So go sleep?"

To his surprise, Hijikata nodded and stood up, some of his joints cracking when he did. Hijikata walked off and Gintoki took the moment to get his shit own together. Because Hijikata was a werewolf, there was an actual _werewolf_ in his apartment, and that werewolf liked to get right up in his face. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and he had no idea what he'd just gotten himself into. The sad part was that it wasn't like his world was turned upside down or anything, he wasn't kidding, weirder shit had happened to him. His dick turning into a screw driver was still very bitterly at the top of his list, no one messed with his analog stick!

Thinking Hijikata would need pillows and whatnot, Gintoki shook his head and got up. He stared at the mess Hijikata had left behind and decided to leave it for the moment, he'd deal with it later. He went into the living room and was once more surprised he didn't see Hijikata sitting at the desk or on one of the sofas waiting for him. Gintoki looked around and went to check the bathroom, but none of the lights were on. Confused, he walked over to his room and slid the door open wider.

Oh.

Okay, so, not only was there a werewolf in his apartment, there was one curled up in his bed, under his covers, on his things, and using his pillow. It wasn't so much that Gintoki minded, it was more that Hijikata... wasn't like this. Maybe he was with someone like Kondo, someone he was close with and trusted, but with Gintoki? Never! They weren't this familiar, not even by half, the most interaction they got was seeing each other in the street sometimes and _maybe _talking enough to trade insults.

Was there even a way to label that? Angry acquaintances? They were pretty non-tolerant of each other and yet now there was a Hijikata in Gintoki's bed. Maybe he was just so tired that he hadn't even thought about it before he'd crashed? Gintoki could understand that, especially considering all Hijikata was going through.

Since... when did he make excuses for the asshole?

"Fuck this," Gintoki mumbled to himself and went out to the nearest sofa.

He himself was exhausted and he didn't need a blanket or anything, he was going to pass out just fine without. A whole night of running around chasing a black blur had really taken it out of him and he'd barely gotten anything to eat, Hijikata hadn't left much of anything except trash. Sighing, Gintoki reclined and shut his eyes only to open them again a moment later. He snuck into his bedroom and grabbed his pajamas, then went to the bathroom. After all this, he'd feel better once he had a shower even though he currently didn't feel like he had the energy for it.

-o-O-o-

Gintoki woke on the sofa to the feeling of something poking his cheek. Hijikata was squatted next to him and god, it was _weird_ to have him poking his cheek.

Slapping the hand away, Gintoki sat up slowly, grumbling, "What time s'it?"

"A little after noon."

Gintoki made a sound and rubbed his face with his hands. He was groggy and a little sore, but overall pretty okay, just stiff. He had an extra futon, but after taking his shower he'd just settled for collapsing on the sofa like he'd originally planned. Running a hand through his hair, he looked over at Hijikata who was still squatted next to him. He was cleaner, the dirt had been washed off, but his hair was dry so he probably hadn't taken a shower. He'd changed clothes and Gintoki didn't really mind, but it was odd seeing Hijikata in his yukata.

"We need to go to the barracks now."

"Right now?"

"As soon as you're ready."

Gintoki squinted at him. "You don't have any shoes."

"Give me some to borrow."

"Say please," Gintoki replied, putting a hand on Hijikata's face and shoving hard enough that he fell back on his ass.

"T'ch! No way, bastard!"

Gintoki yawned and glared at the sun coming in through the cracks around the window. "You can't keep me out all night then expect me to get up early."

"This isn't early."

"It is for someone that has been up all night!"

"You're sayin' I _wasn't_ up all night as well?"

"No! Just shut up!"

Gintoki shook his head and sniffed, the bleariness starting to clear from his eyes. He got up and went to bathroom to take a piss, but... he was being followed. He was only about halfway to the bathroom when he looked over his shoulder and Hijikata was right behind him.

"Need somethin'?"

Hijikata stared at him, then blinked and turned abruptly for the kitchen. "Nope."

Weird.

Gintoki continued on and took his pee, then freshened up as much as he could. He left the bathroom and glanced into the kitchen – the _clean _kitchen – to find Hijikata standing in the middle of the room doing nothing. He was just looking around and scratching aimlessly at his neck, the guy was really fucking odd – more so than before. Squinting hard at him, Gintoki continued on and went to his room to change. The futon was folded up with the pillow neatly placed on top and that looked so strange. When was the last time that thing had been actually folded like that? Shinpachi was bound to have a heart attack if he walked in on it.

He changed and almost put on his full wardrobe, but if Hijikata didn't have anything else to wear, it'd look bad if they had on a yukata of the same print. He walked back out into the living room and Hijikata was sitting on the sofa with a mayonnaise bottle between both of his hands.

"You ready?"

Gintoki scowled. "No breakfast?"

Hijikata held his mayonnaise tighter to him, replying, "Grab somethin' on our way out."

"I don't want your goddamn mayo, mayora!" He went for the kitchen and this time it wasn't a surprise that Hijikata was right behind him. "Did you eat everything I got you yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't even offer me any!"

"I didn't think you were hungry!"

"We had this conversation earlier, I was runnin' around all night! Why the fuck wouldn't I be hungry, asshole?"

Hijikata's shoulders were pinched up high. "I dunno! I didn't really think about it! Thought you'd'a gotten somethin' to eat when you were out!"

"There isn't even any strawberry milk," Gintoki screamed into the empty fridge.

"Get somethin' on the way! I already said that!"

"I don't have anymore money!"

"There's food at the barracks!"

Gintoki wilted. "That's so far away!"

"C'mon, ya big baby! It's not that far!"

Whining under his breath, Gintoki sullenly went to the door and found Hijikata some sandals to wear. They didn't exactly fit him, but they'd get him to where they were going. Gintoki then put on his boots and slipped his bokken into his belt, which he'd thought about giving to Hijikata again. He didn't only because there would be other people outside and there was probably safety in numbers for him. Regardless, Gintoki walked with Hijikata on his left side, giving him access to something to protect himself with should he need it since he was used to having a sword on him.

It was as bright outside as the cracks around his window had suggested and he didn't care for that much. They clomped their way down the stairs and joined the masses on the street, his stomach rumbling the whole way. He rested his arm against it and didn't bother trying to hide how pissed off he looked.

"Are you always so cranky when you first wake up?"

"No," Gintoki muttered back, "only when I'm woken up too early with nothing to eat."

"I'd offer you mayo, but the bottle is empty."

Gintoki eyed him. "The mayora offering mayo? That doesn't sound right and... okay, this question is just begging to be asked. _Why_ are you carrying around an empty bottle?"

"None of your business!"

"Woah, settle down, it was just a question."

"Don't ask stupid questions."

"Of all the questions I could've asked, that definitely wasn't the stupidest one."

"Shut up," Hijikata fumed and Gintoki could only assume his face was so red because of embarrassment.

He _was_ carrying around an empty bottle of mayonnaise, that was a pretty decent source of embarrassment right there. The rest of the walk was done in silence and Hijikata's relief when the barracks came into view came out in a long sigh, like he was finally able to breathe. Hijikata led the way once they entered and before long Gintoki was being led into what he found out was Hijikata's room.

"Make yourself comfortable," Hijikata said and went over to his desk, "I need to call Kondo-san and tell him we're here."

Make himself comfortable? That almost didn't even sound like something Hijikata would say to him, like they were familiar or whatever. Make himself comfortable in Hijikata's room? He looked around and it was fairly big, but where was he supposed to sit? There weren't any seats, not even a futon, and most of the room was bare. Hijikata made his phone call, he kept it short and brief, and when he was done, Gintoki hadn't moved from where he stood.

"He'll be here soon, I'll... ah, I'll get you a seat."

He went to his closet and pulled out a few big pads for them to sit on. Why Hijikata hadn't pulled these out before and then told him to make himself comfortable, Gintoki didn't know. What he did know was that after he sat down, Hijikata seemed a lot more nervous than before. He didn't take a seat, he just paced a lot and double checked that his closet was the way he wanted it and the whole time he kept the mayonnaise bottle in one hand or the other. Gintoki was going to ask if he was losing his marbles, but Hijikata was too busy jolting at a knock on the door to take notice of his watchful gaze.

Hijikata let Kondo in and they spoke quietly together there by the door after it was closed. It just looked like Kondo was verifying that Hijikata was fine and their exchanges were brief, so he must have known exactly what to ask.

"Hello, Gin-san!" Kondo greeted and maybe it was just Gintoki's imagination, but he looked relieved to see him. "How are you?"

Hungry.

"Fine," he settled himself more comfortably on the pad, "had a busy night."

"I take it Hijikata filled you in?" Kondo asked, sitting across from him.

"For the most part... still kinda unclear on some things though."

"Well, we're going to clear up as much as we can! What all did he tell you?"

Gintoki repeated back what he remembered that they'd talked about and all in all, it really wasn't much. Hijikata didn't sit down with them, he stayed on his feet, the sandals kicked off by the door since he no longer needed them.

When Gintoki was done, Hijikata said, "I should have mentioned that there are certain rules to being what I am."

"Like?"

"I can change any night I want so long as the moon is out and if there isn't a moon, I can't change."

Gintoki's brows furrowed. "You can choose when you change?"

"For the most part," Hijikata paused to sigh, "the only night I don't get to choose is when there's a full moon."

"What's it like when you, er, change?"

Kondo motioned for Hijikata to come sit down, which he did somewhat reluctantly, and answered, "My thoughts are mostly conscious, I can lucidly see things and think things and decide what I want to do."

"And on a full moon?"

"I'm a lot less in control of what I do. It's based solely on instinct, so if I'm hungry, I'll get food without deciding what kind or where to get it. I only remember things in fragments, it feels like a dream more than anything the next day, but I know it really happened."

"So basically, the night that girl died wasn't on a full moon," Gintoki remarked. "You'd remember if you did it or not."

Hijikata leaned forward slightly in relief. "Exactly. I know I didn't kill her, I wasn't even in that area that night."

"Okay, but what do you want me to do? You're having some issues, I get that, but what does it have to do with me?"

Kondo and Hijikata shared a look and Hijikata seemed downright distressed all of the sudden. His face even got red and Gintoki wished he knew what that meant or why they were looking at anything but him. Slowly, Hijikata stood up and only glanced at him once before disappearing through the door. It wasn't a glance that had them making eye contact or anything, it was just a glance at him, as in, in his direction.

"Gin-san."

Gintoki swung his head over to look at Kondo and he didn't know what kind of expression that was. Gorilla was smiling, but it was a sad smile and it could have also been taken as some kind of apology. Gintoki at least knew that whatever Kondo was about to say, it was something he wished he didn't have to. Then again, he probably wished Hijikata weren't a werewolf, so anything on top of that was like bad tasting fodder.

"Yes?"

"We need your help. We'll hire you, we'll pay you for your time, but what we need most is understanding and for this to be taken seriously."

Gintoki frowned. "Serious isn't really my genre."

"It is when you need for it to be and this is one of those times."

"Uh-huh... can I at least ask why me?"

"It has to be you."

"Okay, but why? I don't fully understand that yet."

"It just does."

"That's not really a reason, Gorilla."

Kondo crossed his arms. "I'm going to be very to the point with this and I ask you to please keep an open mind. Tosshi can still do his job and control himself, but he'll be able to do both of those things better if you're nearby."

"Really?" Gintoki scratched at his scalp and wondered for a wild moment if it was possible for Hijikata to get fleas. "But we barely get along! You want me to be like his watcher or bodyguard or whatever?"

"It's a little more complicated than that..."

"_More_ complicated? How could it be _more_ complicated?"

Kondo looked away and struggled to find words. "Ever since this happened to him, Tosshi has been... having trouble concentrating. It didn't start out too bad, but recently he can barely stay on task. It has been hard for him to stay out Kabukichou," he paused, then stated bluntly, "because you're there."

Gintoki felt like his mind had just been hit by a two ton dumpster truck. Why did it matter if he was in Kabukichou? That was kind of where he _always _was, he sort of definitely lived there. Why would that mean anything to Hijikata at all? They weren't even friends! They never did anything together, they never went out for drinks, they never interacted beyond insults, there was _no_ logical reason Hijikata would ever give a shit about him.

"You're confused."

Gintoki threw his arms up, snapping, "No shit I'm confused! Is he, like, is this some kind of infatuation thing or _what_?"

"We don't know."

Taking a deep breath, Gintoki tried, "You're sure it's me and I'm the one that needs to be nearby?"

"Yes. He was sure right away and since things got worse, we thought it best to bring you here and let you know what's going on."

"What... maybe I'm just dumb, but what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Stay with him, try to make this easier on him," Kondo replied and just by the look on his face, Gintoki knew he felt bad for asking so much of him. Or maybe – more likely – he felt bad that Hijikata was stuck the way he was and actually had to have Gintoki around for an extended period of time. "I don't know _exactly_ what he needs, he's still trying to figure that out himself, I think. Right now he just needs you to be here where he can see you, that's all we know for now."

The explanation wasn't a good one, but it did explain some of Hijikata's behavior. Why he was getting into Gintoki's personal space more than ever, why he refused to take off Gintoki's yukata, and why the hell he'd crawled into Gintoki's bed without invitation or prompting. The concept was extremely off and was well out of his grasp of understanding, but he couldn't turn them away. This was probably taking a lot more out of Hijikata than anyone else, himself included, and he could give some of his time to this. From his perspective, it was an easy job and that meant easy money.

"Alright, if you get me some food, then I'm in."

Kondo's answering grin was absolutely beaming. "Thank you, Gin-san! Hopefully it won't take us too long to find the cure so things can get back to normal!"

"Woah – what, what? Cure? I haven't heard anything about a cure."

"Tosshi didn't mention?"

"Must have slipped his mind?" Gintoki spat, exasperated.

"Tosshi, come back in!"

Hijikata reentered and it occurred to Gintoki that he'd been out in the hall listening to the whole thing. That definitely explained why his face was so red, his eyes downcast, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to end his existence on this plane of reality via any means necessary. Gintoki knew it couldn't be easy, someone like him having to suddenly be reliant on someone else because of some dumb affliction that he had no control over, that was rough. Still, that didn't excuse why the fuck Hijikata had somehow _forgotten _to mention that there was a cure.

"I forgot to mention that part," Hijikata confessed and sat down, incredibly, with the empty bottle still in his hands.

"No matter," Kondo assured, "we'll tell him now."

"Kinda important for me to know there's a cure," Gintoki grumbled, but tried his goddamn best to keep the biting disdain from his voice. "What is it?"

"We're not sure, we're still gathering information, we just don't want to look suspicious," Kondo replied. "What we know right now is that the Amanto have encountered the lycanthrope gene mutation before and have some kind of cure for it."

"You sure those aren't just rumors?"

"Not entirely, but we're following up on some leads that could confirm."

"Wow, this is a real mess you've found yourselves in."

"You have no idea," Hijikata muttered and then sighed in a way that made him seem ten years his actual age.

"What do you need me to do?" Gintoki asked, surprising even himself by how easily the words left his mouth. Accordingly, Hijikata's head snapped over to him, his eyes wide, and Gintoki shrugged. "You hired me, didn't you?"

"I d-did."

Kondo stood up. "I'll get you some food. Tosshi?"

"Yeah, m'hungry, too."

"I'll be right back!"

"This is weird," Gintoki said after he left.

"You have no idea."

"No, I probably don't," he paused and huffed, thinking of when he'd been turned into a cat, "then again, I might have some idea how you feel." At Hijikata's questioning look, he only shook his head. "What do you need though? I don't have a clue what to do."

Hijikata's face went red again – it might as well just stay that way, honestly. "Nothin' much, I don't think. Come out with me on patrols, eat with me, j-just stay in my sight, I guess." His face constricted and he added a quiet, almost defeated, "I don't know."

"Don't worry about it," Gintoki assured, "when you figure it out, lemme know. I can stick around for awhile and it's not like you expected this to happen."

Hijikata said nothing and Kondo came in with a big platter filled with food, a bright mayonnaise bottle sticking out amongst the mass. He dropped it off, exchanged words, then excused himself for work. Hijikata looked after him like he wanted nothing more than to join and Gintoki busied himself with getting a well-deserved plate of food. He was actually pretty starving, so he almost didn't even taste his first bite, he only knew it was _good_.

"I wanna see, just so you know," Gintoki said after awhile of eating in companionable silence – Hijikata's plate couldn't really be seen under the thick layer of mayonnaise.

"See what?"

"What do you think?"

Hijikata stopped eating because one of his chopsticks seemed to jump right out of his fingers. "A-ah. That."

"Duh. Didn't get a good look last night and I'm curious. Who wouldn't be?"

"Right. Suppose you'll see it eventually anyway."

Gintoki snorted and muttered a, "No shit."

They went back to eating and Gintoki wasn't feeling too bad about the situation. He was getting paid for an easy job and at least this was proving to be somewhat interesting. Of course he hadn't the faintest idea what this could really entail, but he wasn't worried about it. There were a lot of jobs out there far more boring and worse than this one. He was actually almost grateful for the easy money, he'd likely even be able to spend some of his time lounging about reading Jump – he could see nothing wrong with that.

-o-O-o-

When night came, Gintoki was well fed and waiting with detached excitement. Hijikata had showered earlier and had left Gintoki in the room alone during that time, but he'd come back fast. So fast that Gintoki had to wonder if he'd actually showered or just splashed some water on himself. Hijikata had also changed into his own yukata, but hadn't given Gintoki's back to him because it was being washed by someone in the faction, Gintoki didn't know who. He didn't think he'd get to know anyone that worked there too well besides the ones he already knew, but that was just a guess.

"You sure you wanna see it now?" Hijikata asked as he opened his window to let the moonlight in.

It was a clear night out with just a few wispy clouds, but according to Hijikata it didn't matter what kind of weather there was, so long as the moon was out, he could change. Gintoki had learned some more about the situation while waiting for the sun to go down, but mostly they'd spent their time in silence and Gintoki had accompanied Hijikata on some errands around the barracks. He assumed that that was an attempt to show Gintoki around, but Hijikata was a terrible host and hadn't said much to Gintoki at all. In fact, it was more like he was pretending Gintoki wasn't even there, but that was okay, he didn't mind.

"Would you quit asking that? It's getting annoying."

"Shuddap! This ain't easy for me!"

"I get that! But asking the same stupid question over and over is stupid! My answer isn't gonna change!"

Hijikata made a frustrated sound and looked away. "Kondo-san will be here soon."

They lapsed into silence and Hijikata was so uncomfortable that he looked like he was going to throw up. Gintoki only rolled his eyes, the guy was making this so much more difficult than it needed to be.

"Oi." Hijikata glanced up at him through his fringe. "Let's have a truce."

"Truce?"

"Yeah. I dunno if that's the right word, but let's just say that for the time I'm here, you trust me. I know I'm not reliable at all and mostly all I do is fuck around, but it'd probably be easier if you trusted me. That's a lot, I know, but it's pretty pointless for us to pussyfoot around each other just because in normal circumstances we can't really stand each other."

"This just got even fuckin' weirder," Hijikata replied, but he sounded more sure than he had before, "since when are _you _logical?"

"Yorozuya Gin-chan is the jack of all trades! I can do whatever the occasion calls for!"

"You're truly a moron."

"At your service!" Gintoki saluted. "And when this is all over, we can go back to our usual, but for now, don't you think it'd be better if you tried to trust me?"

"I don't ever wanna admit that you're right."

"Then don't! Take it into consideration, that's all."

Kondo knocked and Hijikata called, "Come in."

He entered with a big grin and asked conversational things like how Gintoki was, if he was comfortable, things of that nature. Kondo was pleasant and was obviously doing his best to make Gintoki feel as welcome as possible. Maybe he thought Gintoki was going to change his mind, which was kind of irksome, but Gintoki was pretty sure that Kondo was over-cautious in all areas Hijikata was involved. They were a family and Gintoki was the visitor they didn't want, but had to have for awhile. He felt like an intruder despite the special treatment.

"Ready?" Hijikata asked.

"Yup!"

"C-cover your eyes." Gintoki did so and smirked when Hijikata added sternly, "No peeking!"

Kondo had taken a seat next to Gintoki and he had his eyes covered too. He assumed it was because Hijikata had to undress and his suspicions were confirmed when he heard the light thump of clothes being dropped onto the floor. Then, there was a most grotesque sound, a sharp snapping, and it was a noise Gintoki recognized. He'd heard his own bones snap before, so there was no mistaking that that was what he was hearing. It made sense and he was tempted to look, but he knew he shouldn't. He'd asked Hijikata to trust him, it would do good to actually give Hijikata _reason _to trust him wherever he could.

The sounds lasted several minutes and there were a lot of thuds and then some odd scratching. Each time, Gintoki was more and more tempted to look, but something told him that he shouldn't. Again, trust, he needed to be worthy of that trust and so he wasn't going to peek no matter what he heard. It was a feeble way to prove himself and that he was serious about the sentiment, but it was a start all the same.

It wasn't until he felt hot breath on the back of his hands that he removed them to find a huge wolf standing in front of him. Hijikata was so big that his head was somewhat dipped so that his nose was level with Gintoki's. At first, Gintoki didn't even know what to do, he could only stare. He hadn't really known what to expect, but he surely hadn't thought Hijikata would look like this. He'd pictured some mangled half-human creature with long shaggy fur, not an actual wolf.

Getting slowly to his feet, Gintoki took a quiet breath and studied Hijikata. Gunmetal blue eyes watched him right back as he took in four long legs, sleek black fur, a bushy tail with the tip brushing the floor, a stout build in the shoulders, a muzzle with sharp teeth peeking out, and two ears that kept swiveling from his direction to Kondo's.

"That's really you in there?" Hijikata showed his teeth and glared, it only made Gintoki laugh. "Okay! I'm convinced! Only you could look constipated even as a werewolf!"

Hijikata gave a quiet snarl and Kondo laughed too, he even looked relieved.

"He gets bigger as the moon gets bigger," Kondo said. "He doesn't look like this on full moons, either."

"No?" Gintoki prompted as he circled Hijikata, keeping a respectful distance away.

"Nope! He gets more human-like and walks mostly on two legs since his front legs are more like arms. He almost has hands on full moons since he doesn't have paws anymore, it's very strange."

"Huh. Is there a time limit he has before he can change back into human?"

"Kind of, he has to stay as a werewolf for at least two hours."

"And can only change once per night?"

"Right. It takes a lot out of him to change back and forth, I don't think he has the energy to change twice in a night."

Hijikata came up to Gintoki's side and his head bumped into his elbow. Putting a hand on top of Hijikata's head, he ruffled the fur between his ears and it was soft. He'd imagined it to be courser, but it was warm and soft, more like a kitten than he'd imagine a werewolf to be. Hijikata's ears flopped with the movement and he growled as his head lowered, but he didn't snap.

"Does he have to change or can he choose not to?"

"He has to," Kondo replied and he shot Hijikata a gentle look. "He tried not changing, but by moon high he was in so much pain that he had to."

"Yikes."

"You're not bothered?" Kondo asked and tilted his head to where Hijikata was nipping at Gintoki's sleeve.

Gintoki only gave him a shove on the shoulder. "Not really. I live with a huge Amanto dog that likes to use my body parts as chew toys, this isn't all that different. Well, it's a lot less painful so far, actually. Can he understand what we're saying?"

"Yes, but as you can see he's easily distracted by his lycanthrope instincts."

Hijikata's shoulders were just above the line of Gintoki's hips, so he stumbled when Hijikata bumped him right back. He was quick to regain his balance and Hijikata chuffed before padding over to the window to look outside.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Gintoki asked. "Like, what if he wants to go for a run outside or whatever, I won't be able to keep up with him."

"That's the thing, if you're here, we weren't sure if he'd need to go out there at all. This is a test to see what he'll do and usually he's already out the door... or window."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see then, huh?"

Hijikata left the window and did a slow lope around the room, his nose touching the floor at times as he sniffed about. Gintoki couldn't have guessed what he was doing, but it certainly seemed like Hijikata had forgotten there were other people in the room.

That was until Hijikata's head snapped up and he looked right at Gintoki for an intense second before continuing his trek.

"Doesn't seem like we'll have to wait," Kondo said and it was hard to decipher what emotion was in his voice.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**Making Nice Would Be Easier if There Weren't So Many Contradictions**

Gintoki watched Hijikata traverse the room and his paws made quiet thud sounds each time they touched down. If he weren't trotting and if he tried, Gintoki figured his paw steps would actually be quite silent, like a whisper. His nails clicked against the wood from time to time and that was definitely a sound Gintoki was used to – for whatever reason, that made this a little less weird somehow.

Kondo was still sitting with him, but everyone else was keeping their distance so much that they'd left. If Kondo was trying to not look worried each time he glanced at Hijikata, then he was failing miserably and didn't know it. A troubled crease always bent his brow and it reminded Gintoki of when people thought too hard about something. The look would melt away slowly so long as Kondo didn't stare at the werewolf currently sniffing at the corner of the room nearest the door. Gintoki was just the opposite, he openly watched Hijikata and had lost count how many times the werewolf had shot him a quick look.

"If I throw something will he play fetch with me?"

Kondo laughed, but Gintoki could see the sweat drop. "I wouldn't suggest it."

"Have you tried?"

"No."

"Sadaharu plays fetch sometimes," Gintoki mused, "but he doesn't always bring back the same thing I throw. One time when we were at the park, I threw a stick for him and he brought me back a person."

"Who knows, maybe Tosshi would do that, too."

"As long as he doesn't bite my head, we should get along fine when he's like this."

"You really think you can handle this?"

"Of course, but... why does he keep staring at me like that?"

"Well, we're talking about him when he's in the room."

"Until now he hasn't been paying any attention, he just keeps trotting around in circles and sniffing things."

With the occasional glance every couple minutes, but he wasn't going to say it out loud, that would make it too real.

"Which is better than what he normally does."

There was a pause and Gintoki pulled his knees to his chest. "What... does he usually do?"

"This and that," Kondo replied with a fidgety laugh.

"Gorilla, I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were!"

"Then tell me what he usually does."

Kondo's smile faltered. "Well, it was near impossible to keep him here."

"Because he was always running off to Kabukichou." Gintoki rested his chin on his knees and glanced at Kondo. "Right?"

"...right."

Gintoki had had an idea that that was likely the truth of it and he didn't know how he felt now that he had confirmation. The Yorozuya and the Shinsengumi had been through a lot together, he'd thought that maybe Hijikata going to Kabukichou was a way to ask for help, but he had a gut feeling that there was something bigger to it than that. He'd touched on asking about an infatuation thing, but he felt that whatever was going on could be more complex then even that.

There was no small amount of dread connected to that.

"Are you _sure_ you can handle this?"

It was a little too late to back out, wasn't it? He'd already said he'd do it, he'd even asked Hijikata to trust him, he couldn't screw them over now.

"Yeah," he forced a smile, "it'll be fine. So, once he's done prancing around the room, then what?"

"He sleeps."

"I like the sound of that, sleep is always good. Do you do anything special or does he just flop into bed and that's it?"

Kondo deliberated for a moment, then said, "He sometimes gets into bed himself, but he's so tired after changing back that he doesn't always make it."

Gintoki had to wonder how tired Hijikata had been the night before. He hadn't said anything, but if he sometimes couldn't even make into bed, then how much of a toll had running around all night taken? He wasn't sure that mattered, but he was curious what all the stipulations were for this because there was obviously quite a bit he didn't understand.

"Now, this has to be asked, if he bites someone, will they turn into a werewolf?"

"We don't know," Kondo replied and shrugged. "We can only assume some things and that's not a thing we want to test out and see."

"He hasn't snapped at Okita-kun?"

"There's been some growling, but that's it."

"Lemme guess, he's too _distracted_ to pay much attention to others, right?"

"Something like that."

A wet nose got shoved into Gintoki's ear and he couldn't stop the shout that came out. It was just so _startlingly cold_ and he pushed right at Hijikata's shoulder to get him away. Gintoki didn't care too much for personal space most of the time, but he wasn't sure how he felt about being crowded by a werewolf.

"Quit that, bastard," Gintoki said when Hijikata still hadn't moved.

"I wouldn't push him like that..."

"Do I have to keep mentioning the huge Amanto dog I live with?"

"This is a little different than that, your dog isn't a person."

Hijikata had trotted over and was sniffing around the door leading outside, so Gintoki turned to Kondo.

"I get that you're worried and protective, but if I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna have to do it my way."

"Could you play along just for tonight?"

"Play along?"

"Make nice."

"I'll... try? _Make nice_ isn't really something he and I do very well. How'd he get bitten, anyway?"

"That's a question you'll have to ask him."

"I'm going to have to do that with a lot of the questions I have, won't I?"

"Yes." Kondo tried to give a half-smile. "It won't mean as much coming from me and I think he _needs_ to be the one to address most of this."

"Got it."

That was going to suck, extracting any information from Hijikata was going to be like pulling teeth. He'd already proved to be pretty dodgy and Gintoki didn't think he had the patience to coddle Hijikata. They didn't quite have the relationship to just sit down and have a nice little chat like that. Sighing, Gintoki resigned himself to waiting and for a long time watched Hijikata restlessly trot this way and that. At one point, he came over and bodily shoved Kondo about an arm's length away, but it only looked like he was trying to play.

Eventually, Hijikata wriggled his way underneath the blanket on the futon and Gintoki looked away, he didn't need to see this part. Except, even though he wasn't looking, he could still _hear_ it and that was unnerving. There was a lot of cracking and whenever Hijikata grunted, Gintoki could hear the pain in his voice. When things finally went quiet, Hijikata remained sprawled out on his stomach and he was breathing heavily with is arms folded up beneath his forehead. Kondo made some shooing motions at Gintoki and he awkwardly got up to move over to the futon. Hijikata's bare shoulders were visible, but the blanket covered everything else and Hijikata had his head down so his face was pressed into the bedding.

"Are you... okay?"

"Yeah," Hijikata didn't lift his head, "just tired."

Gintoki knelt down on one knee. "You weren't this exhausted last night after you changed back."

"Last night is the reason I'm so tired."

"Really? You don't get all your energy back the next day?"

"Not even close," Hijikata mumbled.

Gintoki didn't know what to do and he had an even lesser idea of what might be helpful. Hijikata wasn't offering anything and just kept his head face down so Gintoki felt like an idiot kneeling there for apparently no reason. It was strange, too, that Hijikata, who had spent so much time keeping an eye on him in the hours prior, didn't want to even spare him a glance. The tension that was visible in his shoulders made Gintoki's own shoulders ache with how taut they were, it couldn't have been comfortable.

"Should I just let you sleep?"

"Yes. Get. Away."

He stood up and gave Kondo a hard look, but he just got shrugged at in return. Gintoki backed off and Kondo took his place to talk to Hijikata, which he was welcome to do. They were talking quietly and Gintoki was fuming as he set up his bed well away from Hijikata and flopped down. It was too bad he didn't have a kink for getting told to go away after he'd been asked to come over and help out, otherwise, he'd be in good shape. Kondo stayed awhile longer until Hijikata fell asleep, then Gintoki turned out the lantern and... didn't fall asleep. He was someplace new, so he quietly tossed and turned well into the wee hours of the morning.

-o-O-o-

A sharp jab into Gintoki's stomach had his eyes popping open wide and his whole body went rigid.

Hijikata was standing over him and glaring down with a frown. "Get up!"

"But I just fell asleep!"

"It's time to go!"

"We were up most of the night!"

"And now it's time to work!"

"You work! I sleep!"

"I – y-you know why you're here!"

Gintoki screamed as the blanket was pulled off of him and he retreated into a tight ball. "I don't wanna! When do we _sleep_?"

"People who work hard don't get that luxury!"

"You're not human! You can't be!"

"Is that a bad joke?" Hijikata kicked him, but not enough that it actually hurt. "You're just not used to doing any work! Get your ass up!"

"Don't wanna!"

"I brought you food so you wouldn't be cranky!"

"Food is only half the problem! I'm still up way too early!"

"That's just it! You're awake, so get up! No going back to sleep!"

Gintoki rolled dramatically off the futon and made a show of having trouble standing up. He could definitely feel the lack of sleep weighing on him, but he'd been through worse before and at the very least, he'd managed to get an hour or so of sleep. There were nights that he couldn't get any, so he considered this a step up. He took his time getting ready and Hijikata stood by the door with his back to Gintoki while he tapped his foot and smoked. He seemed agitated and still just as tense as the day before, if not more so.

"Ready?"

"I'll have to pee at some point."

Hijikata rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Hold it for now, let's go."

Side by side, they left the barracks and Hijikata had a cigarette between his fingers every step of the way. They were quiet – awkward in a way they'd never been before – and both of them refused to look at the other. It was the first time Gintoki was somewhat regretting that he'd committed himself to this already. It didn't help that the lack of sleep was making him cranky and not even the food Hijikata gave him did anything for his mood since it was just a blank rice ball that was in desperate need of seasoning.

"So," Gintoki began just to get them saying _something_, "I'm supposed to walk around with you all day?"

"Yeah."

"And I'll be getting compensation for this, right?"

"You mean like...?"

"Food, drink, whatever my heart desires."

"If you're a good boy."

Gintoki jolted. "You don't get to say that to me! Only I can say stuff like that! That was a dog joke and you took it from me!"

"Too bad. From now on, you can't use the same joke twice no matter which one of us says it."

"That's a ridiculous idea, I won't even consider it." Gintoki stuck his tongue out when Hijikata gave him an exasperated look. "Tell me something, how much does it hurt?"

"How much does what hurt?"

"When you change, duh. What else would I be asking about?"

"Oh, that. Uh, the very first time, it did. It hurts every time, but nothing compares to that first one."

"Sounds like you're talking about losing your virginity."

"Don't say things like that," Hijikata groaned and lit up another cigarette.

"It didn't really answer my question. I asked _how much_ it hurt, not if it hurt every single time."

"I dunno what to compare it to."

"Then put it on a scale from one to ten. One being a bee sting and ten being getting hit by a truck."

"...truck."

"Every time?"

Hijikata flicked some ashes away and his ears were red while his eyes stayed cast downward. "Yeah. It's... y-yeah, it sucks."

Gintoki watched him for a long moment, but didn't ask anything more about it. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it in the open, so Gintoki resolved to asking him more things about _that_ subject later when it was just the two of them. If their roles were reversed, he wouldn't want to talk about it at all and Hijikata was probably of the same mindset.

"We're in Kabukichou, let me run in and check with the kids really quick!"

"Make it fast," Hijikata snapped, but then immediately pulled Gintoki back by his arm. "Wait, wait, wait! What're you gonna tell them?"

"The truth, sorta."

"You can't do that!"

"I said sorta!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means sorta! I figured I'd explain that you hired me for awhile and then I was gonna help them pick some jobs to keep them busy for the next couple days."

"Just a couple days? We need more time than that!"

"I'll handle that as it comes!"

"What will you say if they ask what we hired you for?"

Gintoki thought for a moment. "Extra body guard?"

"Maybe..." Hijikata's face did a mixture of things, it flattened out and twisted, then his nose scrunch. "Highly unlikely. They'd probably want to join if they thought you being a body guard would put in danger."

"True, so... sweets tester?"

"The Shinsengumi has no use for something so stupid!"

"Undercover mission?"

"Do you really think they'd be okay letting you go into an undercover mission without them?"

"Ah, no, I guess not." Gintoki frowned and scuffled his boot against the ground. "What's something boring you and your bunch do a lot?"

"T'ch, nothing we ever do is boring."

"I'm gonna need you to speak realistically and not as the Vice-Commander for a hot second. What would a _normal_ person think is boring? If you're not sure, you can always call Okita-kun, he'll be able to enlighten you."

"He's not normal!"

"Not in the least, but he does get bored a lot."

"We're not calling him!"

"Fine, so think of something."

"Gimme a second."

Gintoki waited and they situated themselves across the street a couple buildings down from the apartment. He wanted to go in and see everyone, he was sure Kagura was back and Shinpachi would have come with her. He looked at the apartment door and scanned for any sign down below of Tama, Catherine, or Otose. Then, Sadaharu romped out from the apartment with Kagura just behind him and Gintoki had about ten seconds to realize what was happening. Hijikata's face was twisted in fury and he would have lunged forward if Gintoki hadn't grabbed onto him by the waist. He had to really dig his heels into the dirt and _shove_ to get Hijikata to cooperate or even budge.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"He's in my territory!"

"This isn't your damn territory! You can't attack the dog!"

"His scent was all over your place!"

"He lives in my apartment, you know that!"

"Kick him out!"

"That's not how this works!"

Gintoki finally heaved Hijikata back and pushed him enough to get him to stop trying to get by him. He shoved him into the nearest alley and kept pushing him until they could cut through to the opposite street. They didn't go out on the street, they stayed in the shelter of the alley where they'd remain unseen. Hijikata was breathing hard, his face was bright red, and once they lost of Sadaharu, he shoved Gintoki away from him.

"I dunno why this is so difficult! It should be easier now!"

Gintoki scratched his neck. "It's not easier?"

He didn't really know what _it_ was, but he wasn't willing to ask and he was pretty sure Hijikata knew he was mostly clueless.

"T-that's not..." Hijikata ducked his head and glared at the ground. "It is, but it isn't."

What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

"Do you wanna go back to the barracks?"

"No... but I'd like to leave Kabukichou."

Gintoki nodded and motioned to the street. "Lead the way."

"You're sure?" Hijikata asked incredulously, his cheeks still a bright red.

"If I can survive a day being handcuffed to you, I'm pretty sure I can survive this, too. I'll just have to call the kids later and we'll have the rest of today to figure out what I should tell them."

"Okay... but today is going horribly."

"Yeah, but I don't see how it could get worse."

Little did he know that in less than an hour, he'd be regretting those words.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Title Demon Vice-Commander Changes its Meaning After the Sun Goes Down**

Hijikata wanted to change.

Not just out of his clothes, but out of his skin.

He hated being a werewolf, he hated changing, it hurt like fuck, but when he was with Gintoki like this, all he wanted to do was change. As a person, it made absolutely no sense, but as a werewolf, it made complete sense. It would be easier to protect Gintoki if he was armed with extra muscle, teeth made for ripping and tearing, and claws made for puncturing. He had an abundance of extra speed as a werewolf and he felt he was more impressive with jaws that could crush virtually anything if he set his mind to it. Whereas when he was a person, he was meager, awkward, clumsy, and had nothing to really offer. Plus, he had to speak and he felt he did a lot better without words, he always made mistakes when he opened his mouth.

Hijikata shook his head, his whole train of thought had been fucked up for weeks now. If anything, his first couple days had been the best because his instincts hadn't kicked in yet. His fatal mistake had come from venturing into Kabukichou and catching _one_ _whiff _of something he couldn't get out of his head after that. Being part otherworldly creature had given him stronger versions of... everything. He could do things now that he never thought he'd be able to do and he was also doing things he never thought he'd _want_ to do.

One of his worst days had been maybe two weeks ago and Hijikata had almost lost it. Gintoki had cut himself, but Hijikata would argue that it was more than just a cut. He'd been wounded along his shoulder, his right one, and once Hijikata caught a scent of his blood, it had about driven him mad. He'd wanted to be closer so he could inspect it and ensure that Gintoki wasn't in pain and that the wound itself would heal. Had it been clean? Did he change the bandage enough? He'd been the most distracted during that time, how could he have hoped to get anything done with that _smell_ burning the inside of his nose?

He still didn't know how he'd managed to stay away. Kondo had been a huge part of it, he'd kept Hijikata as distracted as possible, but Hijikata had fought every step of the way. He'd almost hurt himself more than once in his pursuit, all because he'd had trouble getting himself to cooperate. His need to protect had damn near outweighed everything else and he couldn't let that happen. So, they'd decided to bring Gintoki to him and get him to cooperate long enough for them to figure out how to get Hijikata out of this mess. It hadn't been Hijikata's idea or decision, but once Kondo had explained everything out, Hijikata couldn't deny the benefits. He'd taken over making it happen and he was glad he'd chosen to appeal to Gintoki person to person rather than having someone like Kondo be the middle man.

He'd thought for sure that having Gintoki near him would solve all of his problems. What did he have to worry or think about when the object of his... interests... was at his side? He hadn't thought having Gintoki this close to him would raise so many problems, but here he was experiencing the exact _opposite_ of what he'd hoped. Gintoki was right there, right within Hijikata's grasp, and it was destroying him.

All he had to do to touch Gintoki was reach out.

All he had to do to scent Gintoki was breathe.

All he had to do to see Gintoki was look.

All he had to do to hear Gintoki was listen.

He wasn't sure Gintoki had noticed just how often Hijikata employed three of those four things and he was terrified if the moron did pick up on it. The only thing Hijikata barely held off from doing was touching, he wanted to _so bad_, but he couldn't bring himself to. That'd be too revealing, Gintoki would surely know what Hijikata had been hiding for... how long had it been?

It felt like a long time.

Because the terrible thing was, he genuinely liked Gintoki, he had since the cherry blossom festival. It'd only been a mild attraction then, something he could ignore easily enough, and it wasn't so intense that he ever got distracted thinking about it. He'd wonder about it every now and then, most of the time late at night when his thoughts dared to venture into that kind of territory. It was all harmless, much like it had been with Mitsuba, except easier since he hadn't spent part of his life in extremely close proximity to Gintoki.

"What're we walking around for exactly?"

Hijikata patted himself until he found a cigarette. "Just looking for disturbances right now."

"What qualifies as a disturbance?"

"Are you going to be asking a lot of questions?"

"Well, I can't really ask the questions I wanna ask right now."

"You can't?"

Gintoki grumbled and motioned around them. "Public? Unless you _want_ me to ask about your nightly furry problem where anyone can overhear."

"No! Not here!"

"That's what I thought, so we either go somewhere more private or you suffer through me trying to pass the time."

Hijikata gulped and nervously flicked this cigarette with his thumb – the last thing he wanted at this moment was to be in a private place with Gintoki. That was a lie, he wanted to be somewhere that would let the two of them be together without any interference. The thought caused him to take a shuddering breath and he was tempted to call Kondo and ask him to come out with them so there'd be someone around to keep Hijikata in check. At the exact same time, he wanted to keep Kondo and everyone far, far away from them so they couldn't do anything to get in the way.

"You're obviously thinking really hard right now and I don't mean to interrupt that since it's clearly a painful process for you, but I mentioned earlier that I'd need to pee at some point." Gintoki waved a hand in front of Hijikata's face. "This is that point."

"Ah... there's a place we can stop up ahead. You can... do that and then there's food there."

"That sounds good, but are there sweets?"

"I dunno."

"Okay, in the future, it's always important to know the answer to that question because it's one I'll ask a lot."

"Good to know."

"Here's a good question for you though, do you ever have an urge to sniff butts?"

"Haah?"

"Isn't that what dogs do? Sadaharu does it all the time."

"I'm not a dog!"

"You are to the Bakufu."

Hijikata whipped his head to the side and glared. "Don't you dare say that."

"Why not? You gonna get mad?"

"Yes."

"Well, we don't want that. It's good to know I don't have to worry about you suddenly wandering off to sniff some ass."

Hijikata's face was warm and he took a big deep breath as he finished off his cigarette. His instincts when it came to Gintoki were strong, but they couldn't mask how much an idiot the guy was.

"Don't speak so loud," Hijikata muttered tiredly, "someone might hear."

"Get outta the way! Move! I'm late for work! Move, move! Coming through!"

It all happened so fast.

Hijikata didn't think, he just reacted. He saw someone push Gintoki aside, saw someone push Gintoki away, saw someone get between himself and Gintoki, and his instincts just _took over_. He didn't remember making the decision and actually doing it was just a blur in his recollection, but he would remember staring in abject horror afterward for years to come. His hands were raised in front of him palms up, his mouth was hanging open in shock, and his eyes were wide.

"You just threw a guy," Gintoki said, nonplussed, from Hijikata side.

"I j-just..."

"Threw a man." Gintoki plucked at the back of Hijikata's jacket. "We should probably go, people are staring."

The man had been thrown directly into a shop and there had been so many fabrics set up out front that it didn't appear the impact had injured him. Still, Hijikata hesitated and only backed away a few steps before stopping.

"I should see if he's alright."

Gintoki got in front of him and pushed him back. "_Or_, you come this way and let me handle it."

"I'm the police and I just threw a man," Hijikata hissed and it was then he noticed how hard he was breathing.

"Shut up and let me do this!" Gintoki pushed Hijikata behind the thick post of an awning across the street and gave his shoulder a hard pat. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

"If you're going I need to go with you!"

"No!" Hijikata tried to take a step forward, but Gintoki stopped him with a hand on his chest. "I'll be where you can see me! Let me do this, I can fix this, okay! Don't move!"

He took a step away and Hijikata had to grab the post next to him to stop himself from following. His grip on the post tightened further the farther Gintoki got away from him, but as promised, he never got out of Hijikata's sights. He watched as Gintoki brushed the man off and spoke with him – Hijikata... really didn't like that. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but when Gintoki flashed a smile, Hijikata's grip got so tight that wood beneath his fingers creaked in protest. They spoke for a couple more minutes, then the man left in a hurry and Gintoki helped set the fabrics back up in the store. He spoke very little with the proprietor, but from what Hijikata could tell they seemed on okay terms and no one was staring or gathering anymore. When Gintoki was finally making his way over, Hijikata wasn't breathing so hard and his heart was beating more regularly.

"There," Gintoki said, "no harm done."

"Except I threw a man."

"Yeah... could you _not _make a habit of doing that?"

"I didn't mean to! It just happened, I couldn't help it! I wa –"

"Shut up!" Gintoki blurted and hopped from foot to foot. "I really wanna hear you whine and stuff, but I still have to piss and it's starting to hurt! So either find me a place to pee or I'm going in that alley back there and finding one myself!"

"No, _fuck_, don't do that! Let's get off this street, come this way!"

His patrol was already ruined, so he led Gintoki down and around to a street over and went into the first decent looking shop he saw. Gintoki ran to the restroom and Hijikata meant to get a table, but found himself following that stupid perm. He didn't go inside with him or anything, but he stood outside the door and waited... just to make sure Gintoki didn't lose him since it was pretty crowded in the little eatery.

"Much better," Gintoki announced as he came out.

"Wanna grab some food and find someplace quieter?"

"Sure..."

"Sweet, you're buyin'!"

Hijikata frowned to himself and followed Gintoki up to the counter, but he kept his eyes swiveling to all the people around them. This was obviously a popular place and he regretted dragging Gintoki in here, but it was too late now. They got food and after some walking, Hijikata found Gintoki had brought him to a park. He seemed to know where he was going, so Hijikata contented himself with following and by the end of it, they were in a familiar place.

Hijikata almost laughed at the sheer irony.

"Seriously? This place?"

Gintoki smirked. "Do you see any people around? I don't."

He sat down next to a tree and Hijikata sighed as he took a place across from him. They were near the spot where the Yorozuya and Shinsengumi had been for the cherry blossom festival and while people could be seen, none of them were within earshot. It was definitely the most secluded spot they'd come across so far, so Hijikata couldn't complain, and it _was_ kind of relieving to not be around a bunch of people. The downside was that now he only had Gintoki to focus on and he wanted that about as much as he knew he shouldn't want that.

The desire to change came back with the same amount of force as the heat that took over his body in an invisible flush. It was so uncomfortable that he took off his jacket and his fingers trembled slightly as he fought the fabric for his cigarettes and lighter. Gintoki was busy pulling out their food and divvying it up between them, so he probably didn't notice. He lit up and eyed the couple boxes Gintoki had put in front of him that had some napkins slapped on top.

"Judging by your reaction earlier, I take it you don't throw people often?"

It was asked so nonchalantly that Hijikata couldn't help but huff in dry amusement. "No, that's not a thing that happens with any regularity."

"And you threw him because..."

"He... surprised me."

That wasn't a lie, at least.

Gintoki had opened up one of his boxes and was nibbling on a kabob. "How'd it happen?"

"Not sure, he just –"

"No, no, not that!" Gintoki wiped his mouth with a napkin and flicked his kabob stick. "How'd you get bitten or whatever? That's what happened, right? You got chomped on and now you have a monthly cycle."

"Don't call it that!"

"Fine, but you have to admit that that was pretty clever."

"I won't and it wasn't, bastard!"

Gintoki screamed when he accidentally almost dropped his kabob, then said after he regained it, "My brand of clever is an acquired taste, you'll get used to it. So tell me, how'd you get bitten? What happened?"

"We were out investigating a disturbance that had been phoned in."

"We being?"

"Kondo and me."

"Okay, then what?"

"We were by the harbor and the animal came out of nowhere. It grabbed me by the leg," after he'd shoved Kondo out of the way, "and then Kondo got a clean hit on the back of its neck."

"It died then?"

"The blow nearly lopped its head off, so, yeah, but it took awhile to pull its jaws open and get it off me."

"Was it a person?"

"It did change back after awhile. We'd called a squad car out to get it and it turned into a guy maybe two hours after that."

"And when did you have your first change? Is that what you call it?"

"Yeah, that's good enough. I didn't change until the next night. I felt fine all day, went about things like normal, then the sun went down and I just lost it..."

Hijikata hated changing, it hurt way too much. He was okay with pain, he could handle it well enough, but having his body rip itself apart every night was destroying him. There were some nights that he'd change back and he couldn't move because his body had given out. He couldn't tell anyone, he didn't want Kondo to feel even more guilty than he already did.

"Oi," Gintoki nudged at Hijikata's boxes, "it's gonna get cold."

Hijikata stubbed out his cigarette and pulled the boxes to him so he could dig in. Now that he was calm and sitting, his stomach had leveled out and food sounded like a good idea. Rice was in the smaller box and in the bigger box he found tonkatsu, which he was happy to see. He pulled out his mayonnaise bottle and doused everything in a thick layer of it before grabbing his chopsticks and digging in.

"Were you able to identify the guy that bit you?"

"No," Hijikata replied and took the drink Gintoki passed to him, "he wasn't in our records and no one filed a missing person report."

"So what's the deal with the girl?"

"It was called in that she was attacked by a large animal. She was ripped apart, almost beyond recognition, and I'd run off that night, so I don't really have anyone to say that it wasn't me."

"You'd said you weren't in that area."

"I wasn't, I know I wasn't."

"Because you were in Kabukichou?"

"Right."

"And the girl was taken down where?"

"Near the Central Terminal," Hijikata answered and kept stuffing his face with tonkatsu.

"There wasn't anything in the news about her."

Hijikata emptied his mayonnaise bottle on the box of rice. "It was so horrific, normal people would've been disturbed. Instead of starting a panic, it was decided to raise awareness about the dangers of going out at night and all that was said was that there's a wild animal on the loose."

"Which is why it's so important for you to be able to stay indoors," Gintoki said with a nod as he finished another kabob, "got it. That makes sense, but it's kinda weird you're the only person that has been bitten."

"How's that weird?"

"You're the police, a figure of authority," Gintoki stretched out his right left and rested his box on his thigh, "and one of you just happens to be infected before any citizens are, that's weird to me. Who phoned in the disturbance that got you to go out there?"

"It was a woman, we went and interviewed her the next day. I didn't go for obvious reasons, but I dispatched a couple subordinates to go and I read the report later."

"So there was actually someone there?"

"Yeah, we have a name and everything."

"Huh." Gintoki paused to drink something and Hijikata's eyes got caught on the movement of his neck when he swallowed. "Still feels weird to me."

Hijikata was glad he was upwind and couldn't smell Gintoki from where he was. He'd stopped eating since getting distracted, so he shook his head and shoved way too much food in his mouth. There was so much food between his cheeks that Gintoki paused to raise a brow at him. Embarrassed, Hijikata looked away and forced himself to chew as best he could, which was mostly using the roof of his mouth to smoosh everything into a more manageable chunk.

Despite making himself look like an idiot, it felt good to just talk like this. Gintoki was close enough that Hijikata could see everything he was doing, but not so close that Hijikata was uncomfortable because of it. For as much of a moron as Gintoki was so much of the time, Hijikata had to say that he was handling this whole thing remarkably well. So far as Hijikata could tell, Gintoki understood why it had to be him here specifically, but he wasn't making a big deal out of it.

"What's it like being a wolf?"

Hijikata swallowed his food down and his eyes trailed up Gintoki's outstretched leg. "I don't know... warm?"

Gintoki had really nice legs, strong ones, and there were hard muscles lining his body. The clothes were deceiving, they made him look underwhelming in different areas, like having his yukata hang over his side to cover parts of himself. Like his pants, for instance, they weren't tight, they were just loose enough so that they didn't outline any muscles unless they were stretched taut when he sat in certain positions. He wasn't sitting in one of those positions now, so his leg looked long and smooth instead of indented with the curves of musculature that Hijikata _knew_ was there hiding underneath the fabric.

Just looking, imagining what was underneath, had his entire body trembling.

"Uhh..."

Hijikata looked up, alarmed at the sound, and found Gintoki staring at him, his face unreadable. Flustered, Hijikata crammed food into his mouth and looked away... but still found his eyes trailing back to Gintoki's leg. He couldn't help it, he was interested, he suddenly hated that he was upwind and couldn't smell him. He wanted to be closer, he wanted to touch and feel out for himself what his eyes could see. He'd brushed up against Gintoki before and he wanted to do it again to see if he was remembering Gintoki correctly. He'd secretly liked Gintoki for so long and here he was presented with an extremely rate situation and opportunity... it'd be a shame to waste it.

With a tentative resolve, Hijikata started formulating different ways to get a little closer to Gintoki without making it too weird or obvious.

"How're your kabobs?" Hijikata asked in the hopes that that would get things back to normal.

Except, he received no answer and when he looked back up, Gintoki was watching him, a question clear in the form of one raised brow.

Hijikata's found it hard to breathe.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
